She Will Be Loved
by dragonpearlz
Summary: How I envision what happens after the Reign Season 2 Finale. SPOILERS! Bash/Kenna; Greer/Castleroy; Mary/Francis


During the early hours of the morning, in a comfortable bed of satin sheets, with a fire kept at a low kindle as was her husband's preferred method of comfortable heat, Greer's subconscious felt his thin and protective frame curled around her. Though not an imposing man of any sort, he thought the world of her and would do anything to protect her. He would keep her safe, and she knew this, even as his arms seemed to disappear from around her. Goosebumps rose on her arms at the absence of his touch and she lifted her head slightly.

"Aloysius, what's wrong?" she asked, her voice betraying the grogginess that she felt.

When no answer came, she grinded into the harsh reality that she had learned to live with over the last several weeks. She had made the wrong choice – not running with her husband. True she had stayed to protect him, but she loved him. Being away from him was destroying her in every way. The uneasy heaviness that she had grown accustomed to weighed heavily on her heart. She knew now what she had worried about then – she had made the wrong choice. She should have gone with her husband and his children into hiding. They were stronger together and she no longer wanted to be alone.

No sooner had she dressed and put on her best false smile for Court, than was there a knock on her door. Too light to be the now confident knock of Leith, her heart fluttered as she hoped it was Aloysius, who had come back for her. But, it was not to be.

"Mary," she said, her voice holding a glimmer of surprise. She stood back and let her friend, the Queen, enter the room. Mary stalked in, looking quite upset.

"What is it?" Greer asked, worried about the answer. She wanted to be home, wanted to go home. Not to Scotland, but to her husband, wherever he might be. Her thoughts flew to him and to how scared the children must be. She had stayed because it was her duty.

"You're not even _listening_ to me!" Mary shouted, sounding a bit more impertinent than Greer was used to. She knew Mary had been through a lot, of course. Moreso than she ever had before. She had to concentrate. She had to be there for her friend.

"I'm sorry," Greer said, shaking her head. "What is it that you need?"

"I asked if it's true? Did you fund the attack on the castle?" She waved a piece of paper in front of Greer.

Greer's veins ran cold. This was exactly what she and Aloysius had been afraid of. "No. Mary, no! How could you even think that?"

"Isn't this your husband's signature?" she asked, showing Greer the paper.

Eyebrows knit together in worry, Greer held her hands submissively in front of her. "Yes, but it's not like that. We funded a school for Protestant children."

"But the money didn't go for that did it?" Mary exclaimed, nearly in tears.

"Mary, I don't know. It was supposed to fund a school on the outskirts of a small town. We didn't mean for anything dangerous to happen. No one was supposed to get hurt. It was just funding for a – "

Her apologetic ramblings were cut off as Mary struck her across the face. "Guards!" she called. "Take this traitor away!" she demanded.

Greer flashed back to not a few weeks before when her husband had been taken away in a similar fashion. "No! NO!" Greer fought.

"If you are calm and you tell me what you know, your execution will be swift," Mary said, her voice cold and empty.

Tears flowed down Greers face as sobs escaped her. "We didn't do anything wrong. Aloysius was freed. Do you know what you're doing?" Greer asked, between the tears.

"I'm protecting my home. And, I'm ridding it of the rats," Mary answered before she swept out of the room.

GC ** GC

Greer sat huddled against the wall. It had been days? Weeks? Who knew. She hadn't eaten properly in days and she drifted in and out of sleep, wishing that she was with her husband and children. She had stayed to protect him, but from here she couldn't protect anyone. She hoped that he had gotten away and used his sizable estate and money at his disposal to leave France. She hoped that he had taken up solace in Scotland as she had begged him to do. That way, when she died, at least he would know.

She leaned her head against the side of the wall and wondered if this was where he had been held in the filth and the squalor. She wondered how he had gotten through. Leith had saved him – for her. He had done the most noble act of all. But, she was forsaken. He had likely used all of his pull – whatever that was – to get Castleroy out of jail. He would not be able to do the same for her – even if he wanted to, even if he knew. And, with Mary thinking that she was the traitor- that they were the traitors that had funded the attack on their home, and on her person, there was no conceivable way that she was bound for anything but death.

Too dehydrated for tears; too fearful to speak; Greer bowed her head and drifted back to sleep.

GC ** GC

Francis' anger paused in his head as the fire crackled before him. The guards had told him that Mary's lady in waiting, Greer, had been taken to the dungeons. She was being accused of funding the attacks on the castle. More specifically, it was in her husband's hand – his signature – providing funds. But, that was not what the letter had said. The letter had spoken of a school…

"Mary," he breathed as she came in their rooms. A force to be reckoned with, she reminded him of his mother. "Are you sure you know what you are doing? Greer will never trust you after this…"

"Trust us!? Trust _me!?_ Francis, they funded the attack. They hired the soldiers!" she yelled, tears springing to her gorgeous green eyes that he could look into forever.

"That's not what the letter said. It said funding for a _school_." He hated to argue with her – again. But, Leith had convinced him to let Lord Castleroy go. All evidence pointed to what Leith had said – that Castleroy was both a Protestant and a good man. There was no indication that Greer had become a Protestant. Perhaps there was some truth in this.

"To teach us a lesson? Francis, how can you be so blind?" she nearly yelled.

"To teach us a lesson from what? She felt comfortable enough to tell you that he was Protestant. She let him go on without her, breaking her own heart to stay here to care for you. Mary, she is your _friend_."

"Not any longer, and I don't wish to discuss it further," Mary demanded, turning to brush her hair and get ready for evening Court.

MF ** MF

The moist air of the French country-side filled Castleroy's chest and would normally clear his head, but it choked him instead. This was not the way everything was supposed to happen. This was not the way the story was supposed to end. His new, young, wife should not be covering for him at French Court while he ran and hid with his family.

She had learned to love him. She had warned him, guided him, and started to make a home with him. Their life, their love, was everything that he had wanted. And, yet, he let his stubbornness cloud his mind. She trusted him and he lead her astray. She had said that she would follow him. He looked out the carriage window, his eyes misting once more.

The golden rays of sunlight splayed over the countryside and reminded him of her hair - it's golden locks shimmering in the moonlight. Her eyes were as alive as the stars in the sky, but he could see them shrouded with sadness whenever he thought about her. Those last few moments nearly broke his heart apart.

"Papa?" Gemma asked sleepily, her brother still asleep next to her in the carriage.

Castleroy gave her a small smile and welcomed the child up onto his lap. "What are you doing awake?" he asked gently, his tone but a whisper in order to not wake the other children.

"The sun woke me," she said, pulling his arm back when he went to draw the shade. "Papa?" she asked, in a voice much younger than her nine years should have been.

"Yes?" he asked, his own hushed tone for no one in the world but her. When he was with any of his children, they were the light and love of his heart. No one in the world mattered, so long as they were safe and happy. Well… almost no one…

"Why did we leave Greer behind?" she asked, showing all of the inquisitiveness of a bright, intelligent child.

Castleroy sighed heavily, his chest rising and falling with the constriction of his breathing. "She has a very important job there and has to make it safe for us."

Blonde eyebrows knit together as the child tried to puzzle out his answer. "Are we to return to Court then?"

"Not for a long while, no," he replied, his voice crackling with repressed emotion.

Again, Gemma looked puzzled at his response. "I liked Greer. She brushed my hair and we played with dolls."

A small, sad smile appeared on Castleroys' lips. Greer had been very good with his children. She had the makings of a very good mother, and a more than adequate wife. He had left her behind. Not for the first time, the weight of his mistake pressed against his heart.

"Yes, she liked you quite a lot as well." He knew that Greer had come to love the children, but explaining how someone could leave someone in the name of love was a lesson he, himself, was learning and did not want to explain it to his little girl.

Gemma nodded. "Papa? Would you have left mama behind?"

"No!" he exclaimed a little too loudly, nearly rousing the other children. "I would never do such a thing. We were a family and families always return to each other."

"Why isn't Greer family? Didn't you love her?" she asked, leaning against his chest.

The innocence of her question twisted his heart and made his stomach flip. "I do love her. Very much." With that, he knew what he had to do.

GC ** GC

"Lord Castleroy to see you, sire," the Court Guard announced. He had left the children under the care of trusted friends in his estate and road alone back to the castle. If he were to leave again, it would only be with Greer at his side. He would not leave without her again. He was stronger with her and felt like a coward leaving her to protect him and he his children. No, they were there to protect each other, and the two of them would protect the family. They were a family, and he was the head of the family. The time had come for him to offer her the protection that he promised her on their wedding day.

"You are either very brave or very foolish," King Francis told him as he admitted him into the Royal Presence.

he guards closed in on Castleroy, and he stepped back, hand on his sword, ready to draw.

"No," King Francis said with a shake of his hand. He held his hand out as though an invisible force could quell the energy that seemed to crackle in the air. "Lord Castleroy, you knew the terms of your release." It was not a question.

"Yes, well, I seemed to have forgotten someone who is rather valuable to me," Castleroy said, kneeling in front of the King. "I know you have no reason to trust me, but I assure you that my intent was never radical."

"You are an enemy of the Crown," Francis said, jutting his chin out as a sneer crossed his face. Brown eyes smoldered at the older man as he thought about what the Protestants had done to his wife. "I should have you killed where you stand."

Startled, Castleroy picked up his head. "I was hoping that it wouldn't come to that, Majesty. "I am simply here to collect my wife, as she is in equally as much danger as I."

"More," Francis said, his voice lowering in both tone and volume. He bent down so that only Castleroy could hear his words. "Your wife is in grave danger here. I will let you leave with her, but not by my hand."

"Your Majesty, I beg you… Greer did nothing wrong. And I … I was lead astray, but we will both be gone from your presence…" He did not like to beg, nor did he want to die.

Francis called for Bash and Kenna to come into the Royal presence. "You will take this man to his wife. She is held in dungeon cell three. Make certain the two of them leave the castle unharmed. Be sure they do not return until it is safe for them to do so." With that Francis turned his back on the group.

"Dungeon cell three?" Kenna whispered as the three of them made their way out.

"Yes, now hush," Bash commanded in a low, quiet voice. He couldn't believe that the Queen had locked Greer in the dungeon with the common riffraff. She deserved better than that.

"Lord Castleroy," the King called as they departed the room.

Turning, Castleroy stood tall to his King, but said nothing.

"The next time something so precious goes missing, I would not wait so long to see that it is safe. Perhaps you should be more mindful of your possessions in the future." His face had softened, but he was no longer a boy, hardening into a man.

"I shall endeavor to do so, Majesty," Castleroy responded, with a bow, before turning around and rejoining Bash and Kenna.

GC ** GC

Greer winced against the pain in her head as the heavy iron lock to the cell door opened. She was dehydrated and more hungry than she could ever remember being. She thought of Aylee and of Nostradamus' predictions. She thought of Aloysius and how he was such a good man and how lucky she had been to be his wife, even if only for a short time. She missed him greatly and the weight of what she had lost choked her. If she had any tears left, they would be leaking at the thought.

She knew that they had a bumpy beginning and that she was not the perfect wife. But, he had been so kind and good to her that had learned to love him. He didn't view her as a possession, but valued her more than anyone else ever had. He did not talk down to her, nor did he berate her for her thoughts or her intelligence. She had come to value him as well. He was not strong or dashing as Leith had been. But, he was handsome and gentle. He was a businessman of great repute, and a good father.

As though the Heaven's above heard her thoughts, she could have sworn she heard his voice. She turned around and saw her closest friend and her husband striding into the cell as though that was where they belonged.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, not certain if she was hallucinating or not. But, as soon as Aloysius' arms wrapped around her, she knew that she was not dreaming. "You came back for me?" she asked breathless and choked with emotion.

A fierce kiss was pressed to the side of her cheek. "Of course I did," he said, laying his hand on her back as Bash took her arm and lead her out of the cell. "I should have come sooner. My darling I am so sorry."

"Aloysius… the children… are they safe?"

He smiled, knowing once and for all he had made the right choice both in marrying her and in coming back for her.

"Yes," he assured her.

"Yes, well you'll have to leave quickly. It's not safe for you here – either of you," Bash said, looking between the two of them. "We'll escort you off of the grounds. Kenna will keep in touch, but you mustn't come back until we are certain it's safe."

Greer hugged Kenna, and let Bash lead her out of the dungeons. Stepping in front of Castleroy, Greer waited until her husband and her best friend had started to ascend the stairs. "You should never have left without her," she confronted Castleroy.

"I know that now. I won't make that mistake again," he assured her.

She nodded, brown eyes smoldering like fire and clear that she did not forgive him for his initial decision. "I shall have her things packed and will bring them to your estate myself. You get her off the grounds, away from the castle. You keep her safe. She is a good person to have at your side. Don't you ever forget that again."

Normally not one to be chastised, he knew that he deserved it. Taking it quietly, he nodded. "I promise that I will never leave her behind again. And I can promise you, Lady Kenna, she will be loved."


End file.
